384 



NEWFOUNDLAND. 



amount of bonds issued for permanent bridges 

 in the province was $729,280. 



NEWFOUNDLAND, colony of, an island 

 near the Atlantic coast of Canada, owning alle- 

 giance to Great Britain but possessed of full self- 

 government. The population is about 210,000; 

 the area, 42,200 square miles besides a stretch 

 of the Labrador coast. Capital, St. Johns. 



Government and Politics. The Governor is 

 appointed by the Crown; the ministry consists 

 of 7 members, the Legislative Council of not more 

 than 15, appointed for life, and the House of 

 Assembly of 36 members elected by manhood suf- 

 frage vote every four years. The general elections 

 of Nov. 8, 1900, turned upon a railway contract 

 entered into with R. G. Reid, which made him 

 practical owner of the railway system of 640 

 miles, the telegraph system of 1,000 miles, and 

 the great dry dock at St. Johns, as well as of the 

 mail steam subsidies for thirty years, 4,500,000 

 acres of the best lands in the colony, and the 

 electric tramway, light, and power franchises of 

 St. Johns. These' interests Mr. Reid proposed to 

 hand over to a joint-stock company with $25,- 

 000,000. Mr. Bond, the Liberal leader, objected 

 to such great powers being given away, and had 

 succeeded in defeating the Government of Sir 

 James Winter. He had formed a ministry on 

 March 8, and at the general elections he won by 

 a large majority. On Dec. 7 his Government was 

 reconstructed as follows: Premier and Colonial 

 Secretary, Robert Bond; Minister of Justice, Wil- 

 liam Horwood; Minister of Finance, E. Jack- 

 man; Leader of the Legislative Council, George 

 Knowling; members without office, E. P. Morris, 

 Augustus Harvey, James Pitts, Henry Woods, 

 James D. Ryan. Eli Dawe, Minister of Agricul- 

 ture, Thomas Murphy, Minister of Fisheries, and 

 George Gushue, Minister of Public Works, were 

 members of the Government, though not in the 

 Cabinet. An early event of the year was the 

 transfer of Lieut.-Col. Sir Henry E. McCallum, 

 K. C. M. G., the popular Governor of Newfound- 

 land, to Natal. He was succeeded by Sir Caven- 

 dish Boyle, K. C. M. G., lately Administrator of 

 British Guiana. The latter arrived at St. Johns 

 on June 16. Meanwhile the first session of the 

 nineteenth General Assembly of Newfoundland 

 was opened by Gov. Sir H. E. McCallum, on 

 Feb. 22, with a speech from the throne, of which 

 the following was the significant portion: 



" The temporary act for giving effect to the 

 treaties between Great Britain and France in re- 

 lation to fishery rights on a portion of the coast 

 of this colony expired on the 31st day of Decem- 

 ber last. The Secretary of State for the Colonies 

 has invited my ministers to send a delegation to 

 London to confer with his Majesty's Government 

 on the subject of the treaty question preparatory 

 to the opening of negotiations by his Majesty's 

 Government with the Government of France, with 

 a view to a final settlement of the matters in 

 dispute. My ministers have complied with the in- 

 vitation. Pending the negotiations, his Majesty's 

 Government asks that your Legislature continue 

 the present act for the ensuing season, and I have, 

 upon the advice of my ministers, summoned this 

 session for the special purpose of submitting the 

 matter for your immediate consideration." 



The proceedings of the session were very brief. 

 Mr. L. O'B. Furlong was elected Speaker of the 

 Assembly, and an address to. the King was passed 

 by both houses expressive of loyalty to the sov- 

 ereign, pride in the empire, deep regard for the 

 memory and life of Queen Victoria, and pleasure 

 in the coming visit of the heir apparent and his 

 wife. The modus vivcndi bill reenacting the legis- 



lation regarding the French shore treaties was 

 passed. On Feb. 25, A. B. Morine, K. C., leader 

 of the Conservative Opposition, moved the fol- 

 lowing resolution: 



" Whereas, The leader' of the Government, in 

 his manifesto prior to the late general election, 

 pledged his supporters to a reduction of customs 

 duties on imports; and Whereas, The current rev- 

 enue of the colony exceeds its current expendi- 

 ture; and Whereas, The rate or duty of 10 per 

 cent, on certain customs duties was enacted and 

 levied at a time when the expenditure of the col- 

 ony exceeded its revenue, and only for the pur- 

 pose of avoiding a deficit, which desirable object 

 it accomplished; and Whereas, Any reduction of 

 duties, to have full beneficial effect upon the 

 people of the colony in this present year, should 

 operate upon the spring importations; Resolved, 

 (1) That in the opinion of this house a measure 

 reducing certain customs duties should be en- 

 acted; (2) that the rate of 10 per cent, on duties 

 should be abolished; (3) that the duty on mo- 

 lasses should be reduced by 5 cents a gallon; 

 and (4) a prorogation or lengthened adjournment 

 of the Legislature, prior to the enactment of re- 

 ductions, will be regarded as a breach of faith 

 with the electors." 



Mr. Morine denounced the Government for 

 breaking pledges, and urged other arguments in 

 favor of his motion. It w r as defeated, however, 

 by a vote of 23 to 3. On Feb. 28, Sir H. E. Mc- 

 Callum prorogued the Legislature. 



The regular session was opened on May 23 by 

 Chief-Justice Little, with a speech from the 

 throne, of which the following were the important 

 passages : 



" Since the session of the Legislature last year 

 a general election has taken place, and has re- 

 sulted in a very strong announcement in favor 

 of the policy of my Government. 



" During the past year our fisheries have been 

 prosecuted with a large measure of success. The 

 shore codfishery resulted in a full average in 

 quantity, and it is gratifying to know that the 

 cure was better than usual. The Labrador fish- 

 ery, on the other hand, resulted in a smaller 

 catch than in either of the two previous years, 

 principally owing to the presence of ice to a very 

 late period on the coast, which not only pre- 

 vented the crews from fishing during what is 

 usually the most productive part of the season, 

 but also destroyed a great deal of fishing gear, 

 thus depriving the fishermen of the means of 

 catching fish even after the ice had finally left 

 the coast. The price of codfish opened satisfac- 

 torily and continued exceedingly good in most of 

 our foreign markets, and thus contributed toward 

 what may be considered, on the whole, a prosper- 

 ous year's business. The seal fisheries of 1900 

 and 1901 were very successful. The lobster fish- 

 ery appears to be gradually failing, and from the 

 experience of other countries, as well as our own, 

 it would appear as if this fishery will be entirely 

 destroyed, unless some more vigorous measures 

 than we have heretofore tried be adopted for its 

 protection. The prices realized were high during 

 the whole season, but the quality of the pack 

 left much to be desired and reduced considerably 

 the total value of the catch. The salmon fishery, 

 compared with recent years, proved an average 

 one, but as an article of trade our salmon is being 

 driven out of foreign markets by the Pacific coast 

 salmon. The latter, though a much inferior fish 

 for table use because of its coarseness and tough- 

 ness, is enabled by these very qualities which 

 cause its inferiority to better withstand the rough 

 handling incident to its transportation by land 



